Chapter 10: A Warning, First Encounter

(A/N) I only own my own OCs.

Cody and Crystal took a bus back to the Tipton. For the entire ride, neither spoke. Cody continued to silently comfort Crystal the whole way back by resting his arm around her. As they got off the bus and walked towards the hotel, Crystal smiled slightly and gently squeezed Cody's hand. "Thanks Cody." She said softly, drying her eyes. "Don't ever change."

"Everything will work out." He said with a nod.

"Well, good bye and thanks again."

"Good bye." He nodded again and turned towards the hotel.

Cody walked back into the hotel. He then walked into the elevator and hit the "23" button. Man she's taking this hard. He thought. She'll be ok though…I hope.

When he reached the 23rd floor, Cody exited the elevator and walked back to his suite. His thoughts now turned to Matthew and his father. Mr. Pike seemed nice enough, I don't get it though, how could he kill his own son? Something really bad must have happened. I think it might have had something to do with his mom dying or his step mom…I don't know, but I'm gonna find out!

After reaching his suite, Cody went to put his blazer back in the coat closet, when he noticed a note on the table. It said:

Boys,

I'll be working late tonight. Cody, make dinner, Zack, TAKE THE TRASH OUT. I'll see you guys in the morning.

Love you,

Mom

Great, I'll probably end up doing that too. Cody thought to himself as he laid down on the couch, grabbed his lab top, and flipped open his lab top. After a couple of games of solitaire, he felt relaxed for the first time in the last two days. Cody breathed a deep sigh of relief as he began a third round.

Suddenly, Cody heard a soft tapping sound on the window and looked up. It had started to rain. He then turned his attention back to his game.

Drip, tap, drip tap. The soft pattern of the rain continued to lull Cody further into relaxation, until he began to doze off…

- Cody's POV -

I opened my eyes and noticed my body felt light as a feather. I looked down and realized I was floating over my body. "Hi Cody," a voice said as I looked back up.

Across from me, was a woman in a white dress. She had dark blond hair and pretty blue eyes. "Are you Matthew's mother? His real mother?" I asked.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, and I've come to warn you. You are in grave danger."

I looked at her in disbelief. "Danger? From who? Does Theodore know I know what he did?"

Her expression clouded slightly. "Not from Theodore, from my son."

"What do you mean? How?"

Her expression remained clouded. "After my death, Matthew developed an intense hate for life itself. His hate intensified when Theodore remarried. Now that he is dead also, his hatred holds his spirit on earth. He has one last matter to attend to, and wishes to use you, to eliminate it. That is why I have come. Exercise extreme caution when you believe my son is around. Now, I have some things to show you."

With that, a bright light suddenly engulfed us. I instinctively covered my eyes to shield them. A second later I opened them back up and realized we weren't in my suite anymore. Instead we were now in the Pike's living room. Matthew was sitting on the couch watching TV, when his father came in. He had a sad look on his face. "Matthew, I have to tell you something." He said hollowly.

"Hey dad, what's up?" Matthew said. "I heard we got the reservations at The Golden Gardens. That's the nicest place in Boston. It'll be perfect for the reception. I…"

"Matthew, your mom's dead." Matthew looked up in disbelief.

"What?"

"She died this morning. She had a heart attack."

"No." Matthew said, his eyes filling with tears. "No, that can't be."

"I'm sorry son." Theodore said grimly. He walked back into the kitchen.

"He was devastated." Matthew's mother said. I looked back up at her, tears forming in my eyes. "At that moment, his whole life changed for the worst. He used to be just like you, just as kind and caring. After that, he became the worst bully his school ever knew, and he lost all his friends. Some thought he had become the Devil's incarnate. It was heartbreaking to watch. Anyway its time to fast forward ten months."

Another flash enclosed us as I covered my eyes again.

"NO! NO! SHE'S NOT MY MOTHER!" I opened my eyes and saw Matthew yelling at his father and a dark haired woman. I looked over at Matthew's birth mother.

"Is that Marsha, his step mom?" She nodded and I turned my attention back down to the scene. After a few more exchanges, Matthew's father and step mother walked out, leaving the boy alone. Matthew turned around and I could see his face. It lost its angry expression. Now it possessed one of pure evil. "What am I worried about, she won't be in my life much longer. I'll be sure to see to that."

The scene in front of me started fading away so I was surrounded by darkness. I heard Matthew's mother's voice growing fainter and fainter. "That's all the time, I have, good luck Cody."

- Normal POV -

Cody woke up drenched in sweat. The room was dark all around him with the exception of his computer screen. It was also dead silent. The rain had long since stopped and thin beads of water on the window were all that remained. The clock on the computer read 11:26pm. Where his game had been was an internet window with a news article that read:

Husband Finds Dead Wife in Sea of Knives

June 1, Boston- Theodore Pike, 47, found his recently married wife stabbed to death on the kitchen floor. She still had one knife in her chest and several others were scattered around her along with a old knife block. A cabinet above her was also found to be wide open. Police concluded the block had fallen from a higher shelf in the cabinet, showering Marsha Pike (48) with a deadly rain of various kitchen knives. It was apparent she had been dead for several hours before she was found by Theodore Pike. He and his son Matthew (14) are no strangers to death, and are taking the incident well. Funeral services are still to be determined.

Cody closed the lab top and sat up. He saw Zack's sneakers sitting by the door. Zack must have gone to bed. Cody thought. Cody got up and then saw Matthew standing in the kitchen. Moonlight shone in through the window, causing his white skin and eyes to glow frighteningly. His face was expressionless and his eyes made direct contact with Cody's.

"Be careful of my son"

"You have lost your blood, now you have lost your life"

"I'll be sure to see to that myself."

"Use you to eliminate it…"

The phrases kept spinning around in Cody's mind.

Suddenly Cody was able to piece the puzzle together. "YOU! You killed your step mother!" Matthew remained silent and motionless, then Cody thought he saw Matthew's head give a slight nod. So slight, it was almost unnoticeable. "That's why your father killed you! So what's left huh? You want me to kill him? Well too bad! I WON"T DO IT!"

Cody breathed heavily. He was so shocked at what he had learned, his fear of Matthew had become almost non-existant. Matthew's face remained expressionless. "Brave boy." He said. His eyes didn't leave Cody's as he began gliding forward towards Cody. He raised his hand to head level.

Cody's fear returned and began to grow. "What are you doing? GET AWAY FROM ME!"

Fear became Cody's predominant emotion, he slowly backed up as Matthew closed the gap between them. Cody continued to back up until he was against the wall. "Blood is life." He muttered. "YOU NEED MY BLOOD SO YOU CAN LIVE!"

Matthew's hand made contact with Cody's forehead and he continued to push through until his hand was about brain deep in Cody's head. Like last time, Cody's heat was drained instantaneously. Matthew left his hand there, draining all of it. It felt like Cody's brain was frozen. He couldn't think, he couldn't scream, he couldn't feel. Everything was so cold. Soon he lost consciousness and slumped against the wall.

- Zack's POV -

I could hear Cody yelling at someone from our bedroom, waking me up. That's it! I thought. It's after 11, time for him to shut up and let me sleep!

Still kind of groggy, I got up and put on my robe and some slippers. I walked over to the door and flung it open. My eyes widened with what I saw next.

Cody was slumped against the wall, unconscious. Standing over my brother was the kid from the news only he looked different. His skin was all white and glowed…his outline was fuzzy…he was covered in something…BLOOD! Then he looked over at me. His eyes were the scariest I have ever seen. Wait, what did Cody say yesterday "You're wrong Zack, I saw a ghost." There was a ghost right next to Cody! Stunned, I took a step back, trying to bring myself back to reality.

The ghost-boy took one last look at me and turned back to Cody. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" I wanted to say, but my lips were frozen in place with fear. Then he made a downward sweeping motion over Cody and disappeared at the same time.

I stood motionless for a few seconds before walking over to Cody. "Cody? Buddy?" His eyes suddenly snapped open. These eyes couldn't have belonged to my brother. They were cold black holes filled with a look of pure evil.

"Well, you must be Zack." He said. His voice almost seemed to sting my ears.

"WHAT DID YOU DO WITH CODY?" I retorted.

"He's gone, now all you got is me." He then smiled evilly. "But don't worry I'll tell you how to save him. It won't matter though because you'll never do it."

I was filled with so much anger I was about to explode. "Oh yea?" I said. "And what's that?"

He smiled and turned. As he walked into my and Cody's room, he calmly said "kill him."

(A/N) If this chapter was confusing go back and read Chapter 7 (The Dream) again. I also left some other clues throughout the story of Matthew's intentions and personality. See how many you can find. Please read and review.